Shirtless Mel Gibson Ducks Beaver Press Conference for a Smoke

It's a film about a man pretending to be a beaver, but at Cannes Mel Gibson was more like a duck, as in, ducking the press conference for Jodie Foster's The Beaver. Maybe it's fitting that a man playing a character who can only speak his mind through a puppet is fine with letting his film director pal do all the talking.

But how to explain Mel's casual mode of chill-axing "sugar tits"-style on his hotel balcony in Antibes, France, before walking the red carpet in nearby Cannes?

We think it's just so he can say he cleans up real nice at the premiere. But read what Jodie had to say about Mel at the press conference below.

At the director's Cannes press conference, a not-at-all topless Foster insisted that she never doubted Mel would do well with her Beaver.

"I knew that Mel wouldn't have a problem with my directing," she said. "If it had been a different actor, I might have gone a different direction. Mel had a deep understanding of Walter's character. He was prepared to show himself going through a struggle, something he has experience with. We talked about that a lot when we were shooting. For Mel, it was very important to shoot this movie. I know he's incredibly proud of it."

We're guessing he's not quite as pumped up about this morning's sunbathing interlude.